Just Because
by Demon-Juna
Summary: Dawn is weird, she knows it, but she doesn't appreciate it when Scott blackmails her and then spies on her! She hopes to teach Scott a lesson before the end of the season, but will her compromise last? M for violence, cursing, and sexual themes (In later chapters)
1. Night Whispers, Ginger Stares

**_(A/N: I fully support Dott (ScottXDawn) but honestly I'm not too interested in them. I'll only make a few chapters I think, so don't get too excited until I somehow make it passed 5 chapters, after chapter 5, ignore this message~!)_**

Dawns light grey eyes gleamed in the late dusk light, her small hands traced marks into the soft sand that surrounded her. Closing her eyes, she expanded her mind, letting it roam freely, it danced with the wind, swam with the water, and raged with the nearby campfires. She could sense the presences around her, their aura's gave off small bits of light in her mind, like sparks from a fire falling onto obsidian.

A darker, larger presence was making its way towards her, and she could feel fierce curiosity slowly rolling off of the form in waves. She opened her eyes, spotting a dull-orange haired, freckled, man approaching her with slow steps. She tilted her head, was he trying to sneak up on her?

When he was around 5 yards away from her, he spoke.

"What are you doing out here?" His voice... worried? She doubted it, it wasn't the type of true worry, the type of worry that she basked in when it was directed at her. No, it was more like a ferocious worry.

"Relaxing" She said, realizing that she hadn't responded and that he had drawn closer, now only a couple of feet away.

He didn't comment for a moment, and she peered up at him, taking note of how tense he was, and how he didn't meet her eyes.

"You have an _amazing_ way of relaxing" He said sarcastically. "My type of relaxing is sleeping after work on the farm with Pappy"

She observed his aura, though her face remained emotionless, sadness panged at her heart as she looked a bit closer at his guarded phase. "You know, I don't even know why I bother talking to you, your so weird" He sneered, turning to walk away.

"Wait!" She called, staring at his back. Slowly, he turned, looking annoyed.

"I know you came over here for a reason, care to explain?" She didn't enjoy reading everything about everyone, sometimes it was fun to get a surprise. He hesitated, and faced her again, crouching down.

"Listen here, girl" He said, his face contorting into a snarl. "I don't care about your nature stuff, or any of your 'aura' readings... I'm going to win this, and that's that. Don't expect any sympathy from me when you lose and I win from your stupidity"

Dawn gazed serenely at him, hardly blinking. "I feel that with your newfound aggression, you will only find failier. Try me, Scotty, and Mother Nature and I may-" She took his shirt, forcing his face closer to hers and her voice lowering as she looked deep into his smug eyes. "- rip you and your un-pure soul out of this game"

His eyes widened, and he stumbled backwards as she let go of his shirt. "Nature always wins, Scotty" She whispered. "Don't try to fight it"

"Your a freak" He sneered. "You and your readings! You? Winning? Don't make me laugh!"

"And you suppose with that attitude you will gain the trust of others and scheme your way through?" She asked in a low voice. "I may not be the wisest owl in the barn, but I know failier when I see it" The ginger only snorted.

"Don't say I didn't warn you" She said calmly, turning away from him and looking out at the night sky. "Oh shoot, you made me miss the sunset, I didn't get to say goodnight"

Puzzlement radiated from him as she felt his confusion. She smiled inwardly, crossing her legs and again tracing lines in the sand. A small smile of pleasure teased her lips, and her eyes closed once more, enjoying the moment as if she were alone. She could feel Scott leave, a burning trail of emotions followed him, unlike most people's they were guarded. Most people were relaxed, open to themselves.

Dawn uncrossed her legs, and leaned back into the soft sand. It caressed her lithe bodice, and let her mind roam into a peaceful state were hardly anything entered her mind. The sound of waves crashing onto shore lulled her, soothed her harsh thoughts. The light_ skid skid _of crabs making there way across the shore made her feel like she was at home.

Gulls honked above her, awakening her from her trance with their loud gossip. The moon had risen just above the large cliff that made her insides shiver. The beautiful moon, with its pure wholeness... it was stunning. She wanted to apologize to Scott, for her harsh words... but why would she apologize for truth? Even if it was ugly, a beautiful lie would not make her feel complete. Maybe for only threatening him?

She stiffened, why was she even thinking of apologizing? She had nothing to apologize- technically- for. He deserved the truth, she remembered his dark aura, some dark aura's were caused by lies... would that explain his aggression? His hate?

Dawn sighed, rubbing her temples as she looked back up at the peaceful moon. It seemed to smile down at her and she got to her feet, reaching towards it with her thin hand. Her fingers were slightly spread out as she reached for it with a gleam in her eyes. Many presences around her froze, and seemed to watch her. Fireflies flew around her, adding an almost magical touch to the surrounding area.

"Friends" She whispered to them, and they hovered around her some more, one landing on her nose. She took her hand down, cupping it around the insect and feeling it crawl onto her index finger.

She rose onto her toes, feeling a familiar presence as she peered into the nearby woods. She murmured to her friends, indicating the direction. "I feel someone is watching who shouldn't" The insects flew off, light in their path. She sighed, glad her friends would be as generous as ever to use their mating call as a lighting path. She followed them on soft steps, prowling through the forest like a predator searching for prey... not that she would kill anyone.

She could now hear soft breathing of a stranger. Peering around a tree, she could see the bugs illuminating Scotts face, landing on various places of his body. He was lightly swatting them, but, as slow as they actually were, they were to fast for him. His movements were clumsy and his eyes burned with fire.

"Get, shoo!" He swatted around. "Fuck, I should've brought bug spray!" Dawn raised an eyebrow, and she spoke softly, but loud enough for him to hear.

"Alright guys, I think he's learned his lesson..." He looked up, glaring furiously at her, though his aura radiated with awe.

"Next time you'll learn not to watch what is not meant to be watch" She said, stepping from the tree and heading back to camp to retire for the night. Colors still flashed in her eyes as she lay down just below her dream-catcher. She made sure all the strings and feathers were in place before snuggling low into the covers. She was out before she could thank Mother Nature for yet another day of life.

**_(A/N: Love, hate? Please let me know~)_**


	2. Dont Judge A Book By Its Cover

Dawn woke up to the sound of laughing outside her cabin. Peaking out, she saw Chris and Chef toying around with a campfire and discussing a seemingly amusing topic. She looked at the sky, it was still early in the morning- literally just after midnight. The sun hadn't even rose above its glorious horizon. She narrowed her eyes at Chris, seeing him get a trumpet and blowing it loudly so it echoed through camp. He frowned when no one came out of their cabins, and got a larger one, handing it to Chef.

An ear-splitting screech filled the air as Chef blew with that evil grin on his face. Dawn covered her ears, trying to find peace within her mind before walking outside to see what was happening.

"Arighty cadets... Todays challenge is a special one! Now before you all run away like the bunch of pussies your are, I should let you know that only TWO people from your team get to... physically participate" Chef barked with a smirk. Dawn glimpsed over his dark-grey aura, seeing that even though he looked evil on the outside, he was a real sweetheart inside.

"Today's challenge-" He cut off, blowing the horn again as he noticed a few campers falling asleep on their feet. "... that's better... Now that I have your attention, Todays challenge is a trip to the woods... Hehe... With no food, water, or supplies. Each team needs to choose two people: one male, one female, to participate in this challenge, the others will be doing other... things... to slow the opposing teams campers down. Got it? Now, as for rules: No alliances! No help from teammates other than your partner, and NO meeting up with the other team, there are camera's everywhere so we'll know"

Everyone on her team was looking at her, and Dawn sighed. "Dawns our female and-" Sam was cut off by Scott, who had his chest puffed out and his eyes closed. "I'm the best choice for male, I mean, other than _moonbeam-" _He snarled the nickname. "- over there, I know the wilderness better than anyone. After all, I grew up on a farm near the woods and would always venture out past curfew."

Dawn stared, half of those words were lies, he never ventured out past his curfew, otherwise his pappy would punish him severely if he did. She mused over it for a few more seconds, waiting for the Maggots to make their decision. Finally, Jo and Brick stepped up, glaring daggers at each other. Dawn chuckled, _Oh, if only they could see there is really no reason to bicker... _She thought, then looked at Scott, who was busy boasting about how he once met up with a grizzly bear, and got a scar on his back from a swipe.

Dawn narrowed her eyes at him, that scar wasn't from a bear, but from something much smaller, but just as fierce... his real dad. Dawn raised a hand to her mouth as tears welled up in her eyes. She blinked them away, suddenly feeling guilty for looking too deep.

Chef cleared his throat, and gestured to the still-dark forest. Dawn smiled, and walked over to Scott, tapping his arm and drifting over to the forest with a final wave at her friends. Scott was soon close behind her, she could feel his breathing on the back of her head.

"You don't need to lie about them" She said softly, stopping and letting a millipede crawl up her arm. She could hear Scott snort behind her, and turned back to him, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Lie about what?" He asked, and Dawn frowned.

"Your scars, I know you didn't get th-" She was cut off by Scotts hand slapping over her mouth, and his dull blue eyes glaring into her blue-grey.

"You don't know anything about me, freak!" He hissed into her ear, just low enough so the nearby camera's couldn't hear. Dawn closed her eyes, shaking her head. She felt his hand lift, and glared at him, setting down her new millipede friend. "Be more careful, I don't care what you do to me, but at least mind your manners to your surroundings!" She said fiercely, watching her friend scatter off with no more hesitation than those who only thought of her as a freak.

Scott chortled, and observed the area. "I think we are far enough, I'll set up camp, you go _try _to be at least a bit useful and go find some grub" Dawn smiled at her surroundings, walking into the woods, taking off her sweater, and pulling down her blue tank top. She made her sweater into a basket-like position, and began to pick some blueberries.

After a couple dozen handfuls, she wandered around some more, letting the wild life guide her to food. She didn't need to speak to them. Sometimes it just took common sense to get what you needed. She soon found stumbled across some blackberries, but with closer inspection she saw they were rotten. She wrinkled her nose, sighing and letting the tree's guide her back to were she hoped Scott still was.

She made her way back into the small clearing, noticing that Scott actually was still there, rubbing his hands by a flickering fire. She inhaled sharply, smelling cooking meat.

"Chill, I found it dead" He scoffed, seeing Dawns reaction. She gazed with distaste at the skinned thing. She held out her sweater, it was half-filled with berries, leaves, and some flowers.

He took one look at her food and sneered. "Yeah, I'll stick with meat, short stack" Dawn glared at him, and sat down across the fire. She watched the flames beautiful dance, its flickering tongues of fire dancing into the night sky. She hummed softly to herself, eating a handful of berries before yawning.

"I'm going to sleep" She informed him, and he suddenly looked nervous.

"Uh, Moonbeam?" Fear turned his aura a light, dull, green, and he looked around, obviously not meeting her gaze on purpose.

"Yes?" She asked, yawning and looking at the still-dark sky.

"Would you mind staying up? After all, its almost light out, we should probably move deeper into the forest soon, too keep the others off our tracks" Dawn sighed softly, and nodded. Sure enough, he brightened into his usual snarky mood.

"Are you always so quiet?" He asked. Dawn turned her head to face him, realizing he had gotten up and was poking the fire with a stick.

"Would you like it if I spoke?" She answered in a form of a question. Scott snorted, and shook his head.

"No, now that I think about it, why did I even ask? Your all pure and distant and all, s'not like your missing much around here" Dawn raised an eyebrow at him, staring, and he turned his gaze from the fire over to her.

"What?"

"No one is pure, Scott" She said softly. "Even I have my faults"

He threw his head back and laughed. "You? I doubt it!" He said scornfully, "Your all about the nature and all that 'Save the earth' crap!" He gestured around wildly, and sat down with a huff.

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Scott" Was her only reply.


	3. Just Off

While the teammates discussed random topics with each other, only Dawn knew of the upcoming danger to their area. Anne Marie and Mike- Or Vito, as he now most of the time was- was setting traps around their small camp. One certain trap happened to be set right where they thought they may be safe... pfft, no one would ever be safe on this island.

* * *

_Vito's so... dreamy. _Anne Marie thought as she bat her eyelashes at the man who was so different from Mike. She forced her head to get out of the clouds as she set the last trap. She slowly covered it with leaves and twigs. _That nature weirdo and Mr. Smart-ass are going down!_

* * *

Dawns head jerked up as she saw the sky lightening. Scott was wandering around the area aimlessly.

"What are you doing?" She asked, and Scott gave a start, he seemed to forget that she had been there. _Maybe I am too quiet..._

"I have to shit" Was his reply, and Dawn snorted.

"Well, Prince Charming, I wouldn't go that way if I were you, there are traps everywhere"

He rolled his eyes, but it was noticeable that he stepped carefully... that is, until something snapped under him. "Oh Fuck!" he shouted, and Dawn wanted to laugh at his helpless state.

He was hanging by one foot from a tree, his arms dangled, attached together by rope, and his white tank top hung over his face. Dawn sighed, a teasing smile on her lips as she approached the man. She pushed his shirt out of his face and smirked at him. He glared back.

"I warned you" She said teasingly, grinning. "Now where's your shark tooth?"

She watched him freeze, his glare turning ice cold. "Left back pocket... don't get any ideas!" He said sharply as she moved behind him.

"Oh yeah, cause I'm like that!" She replied, studying his backside for a moment. "Well? What are you waiting for?!"

She stared at his back. "I'm trying to figure out how to do this without it looking wrong, after all, there's a camera right there" Well, that at least shut him up.

She testily reached up, tugging at the shark tooth. It was slightly sticking out of his pocket. She felt him tense underneath her finger tips, and tried to remove the tooth without injuring Scott or herself. She got it out safely, but nicked her finger. "Dang it!" She muttered, whipping the blood on her skirt before climbing up the tree.

"Uh, Dawn? Where'd you go?" She chuckled at his puzzlement, he was slowly turning in circles, head twisting around and trying to see her.

"Scott, brace yourself, this may hurt a bit..." She began to saw at the thick rope, and Scott must've seen what she was doing because he immediately began struggling.

"You're insane! There's got to be a safer way!" He shouted, and Dawn felt sorry for him. She was too short to reach the tip of the rope from on the ground, and there was no way that she was letting him struggle all day.

"Just be quiet and still! It doesn't hurt as much if you tense your muscles" She called back, the rope now had only about half an inch left. He stopped stuggling, his body taut as he glared- well, tried to glare- at her.

**_Snap! Thump! Thud!_**

"Ow! I thought you said it wouldn't hurt!" He half-shouted, up at her. His legs and arms were still tied though.

"I said it wouldn't hurt _as much" _She corrected, sliding down the tree trunk and approaching his battered form. She kneeled down, sawing at the ropes that bound his feet, and smirking when he began whining like a baby again.

"Go faster! We don't have all day!" She shook her head, smiling softly and gazing at him for a moment before starting on his hands.

"Correction: We do have all day, your just whining because your tired" He gazed at her with puzzlement.

"Aura" She reminded him, and he for once didn't respond with something snarky.

The ropes snapped, and he slowly rose to his feet, rubbing his face. He held out his hand after a moment, and she stared at it.

"Tooth"

"I'll be keeping it for now"

"Excuse me?"

"Do I really need to repeat myself? Or are you just being difficult? Until you step up your game, I'm keeping Fang's tooth" Dawn said, putting the tooth into a small pouch in her skirt.

He stared a her, mouth open.

* * *

**_-Scott PoV-_**

I stared at her, how come she was the one in charge all of a sudden? I was furious with her, but I pushed it aside. "Whatever" I growled, pushing her out of the way and heading North.

"Grab your sweater, we're leaving" I muttered, picking up my extra squirrel meat from way earlier that morning. I trudged ahead, sometimes calling out questions to make sure that she was still there.

"Where'd you learn to be like this?"

"Like what?"

"Abnormal, freakish, a witch"

"I didn't teach myself, it was awakened from within, anyone can do it with a big enough push. My push was just a little too hard though"

"How so?"

"I cant say, otherwise the camera's will catch it, or you'll spread it"

"..."

"... but I did have a mentor"

"Figures"

"No, not that way, she knew my... awakening, she experienced something similar, and wanted to help me so I didn't end up..."

"Psycho? In the loony bin? Sent to the happy home?"

"... dead"

I decided right about now would be a good time to shut up. We walked in silence, well, almost silence, I could hear her whispering to almost all the wildlife we passed, her words were faint, but not too difficult to hear. I yawned. We had walked a few miles, and the sun was now about halfway to the middle of the sky. Surprisingly, it was peaceful out... a little too peaceful.

"Moonbeam?" I asked, turning my head to the teen.

"Hmm?" She hummed in question, and I hesitated.

"Do you think some things off? Like, shouldn't we be getting attacked by some mutant or something by now?" I asked, I, of course, wasn't worried... just curious, yeah, curious. She was looking around with a peculiar light in her eyes, and a very tense, emotionless, look on her face.

"Yes, something is off... I just cant put my finger on it..." She trailed off, and I looked ahead, spotting a beach. "Hey, water... I dunno about you, but I'm dying for a bath!"

She smiled gently at me. "I'll go wait for you deeper into the woods. Mother Earths showers are enough to suffice my needs"

I was confused for a moment, then it hits me. _Oh, well no duh, she wants a rain shower. _My thoughts paused as I turned to the lake and began to undress. _... I so knew that..._

* * *

**_So, This is just off on a side note: If I don't post at least one chapter per day, I need you to fricken spam me with messages until I release the next chapter. I'm a really bad procrastinator. _**


	4. Tea Leaves and Bloody Cuts

Scott was heading back to the woods, his wet shoes kicking everything in his path. He was about to kick a shell before he stopped to look at it. It was a pale teal in color, and had small purple-ish spots speckled around it. Oddly enough, when he looked at it, he thought of Dawn, and felt a sudden urge to give it to her. He bent down, scooping the shell up and looking inside to see if anything was inhabited in it. Nada.

He trudged into the forest, searching for his nature-loving companion.

* * *

Dawn murmured to herself, setting out her tea leaves in front of her. She read each of them carefully, air sucking through her mouth as she read the bad news... and some maybe-good-news.

"Bad luck befalls upon me, but also... a rose? Romance?" She was genuinely confused. "With who? The only people here who even remotely like me still think of me as a freak..."

She looked down at the tea leaves again, crest fallen.

"A tree with many branches; long life... I've read that before, it comes up every time unless..." She shook her head, trying to clear it out. Dawn tossed the leaves back into the mini-pocket where she kept Scotts sharks tooth. Sighing, she traced little patterns in the dirt. She was glad this TDI season wasn't as mutated, more genuine and friendly- thanks to the original owners of the island who fixed it up. _**(A/N:** **Yes, this is a new season. Scotts out of the trauma chair and back to his old self, but with a bit more fear)**_

Dawn rose to her feet, hearing the crunch of footsteps barely a few yards away.

"Scott?" She called with a questioning glance. She couldn't read the aura, it was too deep into the bracken to see, though she could see it was a dark one.

"Dawn- ack! Hold on, fuckin' thorns..." She heard him grumble, and chuckled lightly. Though she didn't always agree with him, she did with the subject of thorns- they were a pain.

He stepped out of the bushes, and looked at her for a moment. She took note that he was still wet from the swim he took, and raised an eyebrow at his staring. His aura was a darkening shade of pink, and he held out a beautiful shell.

"I saw this and um... you know, I know you like nature and... yeah... just... here" He gave her the shell, and she smiled down at it.

"Thank you, Scott" She said softly, and looked up at him. "May I ask, why?"

"Just because..." His aura was very pink now, and she smiled at him, leaning up on her toes and brushing a soft kiss against his cheek. _Well, I guess I found the romance... _She thought with another glance at him before walking off. He was touching the spot she kissed with his fingers, his face a cherry red.

"Coming, Scott?" She asked, turning to see him slowly trudging behind her, a dopey smile on his face.

* * *

_Heh, my luck must be finally picking up... _He thought, then heard a scream as Dawn fell into a large hole. _Spoke too soon... _He peered down the hole and at Dawn, she was cradling her shoulder against her body, whimpering softly.

"I think I dislocated my arm" He heard her say, tears welled in her eyes as her arm dangled limply from its socket.

"Do you see any way I can get back up?"

"Cant you just, y'know, float up?"

"I need to be calm to do that! Its not called _'being at peace with yourself' _so you could use it at any time!"

"Okay, okay, just breath. I think I see a way to get you out" He said firmly, and he saw her slight nod. "It will take time, and you have to promise me you wont try to do anything with that arm, it needs to be put back in place, I'll do it once you get out"

She only whimpered in response again, and he took off. He needed to find the ropes he had been caught in earlier. He knew it wasn't that far of a distance, but leaving her alone in the woods- even if she was all nature-y - could end up with something going wrong.

He sprint through the forest, running through everything in his path before beginning to recognize his old camp. He looked around, spotting the ropes and quickly gathering them into his arms. He tried running back, but kept tripping, and he had to walk the rest of the way.

He could later hear the soft whispers of breathing, and knew he was close. "Dawn?" He called, and looked around for the hole, spotting it a few yards to his left.

"Dawn?" He asked again, looking down in the hole to find her curled up in a small cleft, blood oozed from cuts and scratches all over her body, and her clothes were torn and bedraggled. Tears streaked down her blood-and-mud-painted face. He couldn't tell if she was sleeping or unconscious.

"Dawn, wake up!" He shouted, and her head only rolled to the left, revealing a long cut that went down across her face, blood still gushed from the wound, and he began to panic. He tied a portion of the rope to a nearby tree, and began making his decent down. His shoes hit the rough dirt on the bottom, and he ran to the bloody form of his companion.

He turned her over, realizing that the cleft was a small shield from whatever had attacked. Her whole figure was bruised, battered, and bloody. He began to notice rocks scattered around the dirt floor, and anger welled up inside of him.

"I have to get you out of here" He muttered, gently picking her up and settling her over his shoulder. He climbed up the rope with much more trouble, his hands were slick with Dawns blood, and his footing was bad.

He finally made it up, and carried Dawn to an area that he determined was safe from traps, looking down at her with much worry in his eyes.


	5. Injured, But Not Dead

Dawn was in a beautiful, natural area. Wind blowing gently through her hair, peaceful whistles of birds through the groves, and wonderfully large amounts of the rare Visayan Spotted Deer. She sighed, watching the deer with a content gaze and leaning against the towering pine tree behind her. Nature surrounded her everything, her every move, thought, and concern. Perhaps more than was healthy.

As soon as that though came up, her old mentor appeared at the edge of the grove of tree's. Her ebony skin clashing harshly with her teal eyes. Her gesture for Dawn to follow was not ignored, and she got up.

"Mikarea!" Dawn called, looking franticly for her mentor when she disappeared. Mikarea was gazing at her with her now glowing teal eyes, and her haunting voice filled Dawns head.

"_Child, remember to choose your actions wisely. As one of the dwindling numbers of us, you must heed every challenge set against you_"

"Mikarea! Please explain!" Dawn begged running towards her mentor, but a small smile crossed across Mikarea's pale lips before she vanished, and the world went dark.

* * *

Pain enveloped Dawns whole body, and she could feel the sway of someone walking underneath her. She opened her eyes a slit, and had to adjust to the bright afternoon light.

"W-what? Whats going on?" She asked, gazing at the back she was slung over.

The memory crashed down on her, and Dawn sucked in a big gulp of air, tears welled up in her eyes but she forced herself not to cry. She needed to be tough.

"Scott?" she rasped, and she felt his body give a jerk of fear under her.

"Oh, Dawn, I didn't know you were awake" He said, stopping and lifting her off of his shoulder and leaning her gently against the ground and a tree. She nodded weakly, and looked up at him. A jagged cut was across his arm, and she reached out to run her fingers over it. He jerked away before she could touch him.

"Sorry" She whispered, slightly hurt by his reaction. Worry came off him in waves, and she turned her head away, touching her cheek and immediately regretting it.

"Ow!" She hissed, pulling her hand away and looking at the semi-dry blood that now covered her finger tips.

"Yeah... Dawn, what happened while I was gone?" She didn't turn to look at him, or even move anything but her lips.

"Sasquatinakwa _**(Pfft, fail spell)**_found me, saw me as a threat... even after I communicated I was not, and attacked me. He threw rocks down at me, found a large tree branch and..." She touched her cheek again. "... whipped me with it, he soon grew bored with my screams and I guess his mate or his sister or... something, found us. She too, saw me as a threat, and... caused a landslide to fall on me, creating a cleft that I crawled under once I finally made it out of the landslide" Dawn looked up at Scott, and he had such a concerned look she wanted to cry, whether with joy or pain, she didn't know.

"Dawn, when I found you there, I thought you were dead" He reached out a hand, pointing to the scratch that ran across her face. "You lost a lot of blood from that, I was almost sure you would die even if you weren't dead then"

Dawn looked away, tears stinging her facial wounds. The pain was almost unbearable, but she would have to push through it. "I need to patch up my wounds" She said, trying to move her arm and feeling sharp, overpowering pain. "Gah!" She gasped, clutching the arm with her other one, and looking at Scott. "You still need to reconnect my arm to its socket"

He crouched beside her, gripping her arm in an 90 degree angle with one hand and taking hold of her other hand in his. "When the pain comes, squeeze my hand" He said gently, and immediately wretched her shoulder upward. She let out a scream, her nails digging into Scotts hand, feeling her shoulder pop... literally... into place and the pain slowly faded away. "Quick and semi-painless" She breathed, her tears stopped flowing.

"Thank you, Scott" She said, louder. He smiled kindly at her, and she reached out again, this time to brush her fingers against his face. He leaned into the touch, and she found herself sharing her air with him. Her dark blue-grey eyes gazed into his dull blue, and she gave a soft smile. Though her face stung furiously, she wouldn't let pain ruin the moment.

He was leaning in closer, and hesitated about three centimeters away before lightly kissing her lips. She began to kiss back, and felt him slide an arm just above her waist. Her forehead leaned against his as she slowly broke away. His face had a light red line from her cut across his face, and she leaned back against the tree. She hadn't realized that she had moved forward.

"Dawn?"

"Yes?"

"What color is my aura?"

"It constantly changes, but right now its a red-ish, purple-ish, and blue-ish, you must be thinking of something romantic and sad"

"What do those colors stand for?"

"Well... blue is sad, but its kind of like a stormy blue, I don't often see that color... purple is your usual mix, I think it means excitement or happiness... red can be either furious or... um... romantic"

The conversation came to an end, and Dawn suddenly couldn't bear to look at him any longer. "Do you think the camera's saw us?" Scott said.

Dawn thought for a moment, looking around for something out-of-the-ordinary. "No, I think we are okay for now, plus its kind of dark, shadows could've hidden it"

"Could've?"

"I'm not really sure right now"

Her cuts still stung, but she ignored them. The night was becoming cold, and she wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knee's and looking at Scott with curiosity.

"Do you make a habit of staring at people?" He asked sarcastically, and she blushed, smiling at him through the dusk light.

"Nope, but I usually don't have anyone to stare at anyways; they all leave me"

Silence hung over the small area like a blanket, and she began to doze against the tree, the moss covering it was like a pillow, and her eyes began to get heavy. The only thing keeping her awake was the small chill of the wind lightly blowing through the tree's.

* * *

Scott gazed at Dawn through the shadowy darkness, she looked so peaceful, all snuggled up against the tree and ready to sleep. He didn't want to be awake by himself, he wanted company.

"Hey, don't fall asleep yet" He said gently, getting up and walking towards her. He sat next to her with a kind smile.

"Chilly out" He remarked, but realized that she was already asleep. Fear struck him as soon as it registered, and he peered at Dawn. He slid an arm under her shoulders, and rubbed her chilled arm. He felt her lean closer to him, and her head snuggle up right against his stomach. He sighed, looking down at her peaceful expression.

His eyelids began to droop, and he felt sleep beginning to take hold of him. He smiled down at the moonchild before drifting off.


	6. Blackberries

Dawn woke up, curled with her back to Scott. Her hair was caked with dried blood, and she touched at the oozing cut on her face. Scott's arm was firmly grasping her other hand, and she blushed. Gently uncurling her hand from inside his, she slipped away to go find food and something to clean her cut with.

"I wonder..." Dawn said, trailing off. She looked around at the animals, and held out her hand to a small chipmunk. It skittered over her arm, looking at her with its big round eyes, and she smiled. It bounced from it's perch, and lead her away to a small thicket that held blackberries.

"Thank you, friend" She said, giving the small rodent a handful. It chittered at her, it's aura a beautiful shade of gold. She waved as it dashed off, and began picking handfuls of the bittersweet berries. They were among her favorite berries, and she loved how they would just burst with juices once she bit into one.

After getting a logical amount for two people, Dawn wrapped them into a large leaf package and began to head back the direction she came. Dawn nearly tripped a dozen times while walking back, and she cursed herself for being clumsy as she was. Well, she tripped on Scott's arm, and almost spilt the fragile bundle of berries.

"Scott" She said, kneeling down and shaking his shoulder. Scott snorted, and jolted awake.

"Wha- Who? What?!" He shouted, eyes wide.

"Easy, it's just me!" She said, cracking a smile. She held out the bundle, and opened it to let a few blackberries tumble out.

"Breakfast" She giggled, trying to hold in a downright uproar at his awakening. Scott rubbed the back of his head, and picked up a berry.

"Um, thanks, I guess?" Sounded more like a question, but Dawn hardly cared. Scott was actually using his manners! A dream come true for most fangirls out there who would be 'swooning in his arms' by now. She chuckled, popping a few berries into her mouth and looking straight into a camera.

"They don't try to hide the camera's do they?" She asked, waving. "Hi Chris!"

* * *

Chris looked into the camera. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

He asked in a really loud voice, and Chef, who was beside him, flinched and frowned.

"That Dawn creep freaks me out, you know, we should set up a few traps for her... just to keep her trap silent"

"Blackmail?"

"Blackmail"

"Chef?"

"Yes?"

"I'm a genius"

"..."

* * *

Dawn scampered away from the place she had rested that night. Her cut had stopped oozing, but it still hurt like hell.

"I need to find water" She said. "If this wound gets infected I wont be able to compete"

"Alright, let's go" Scott replied from behind her. She turned to raise an eyebrow at him.

"What? No arguing?" She teased, springing a few feet ahead. Her mind wandered, and she didn't hear him reply. The lake was soon only a couple hundred meter's away.

"Um, Scott?"

"Yeah?"

"..." She looked pointedly at the water, then at him.

"Oh, right, um... I'll just... go... that way" He said, a scarlet blush tinting his freckled cheeks.

Dawn chuckled, and headed down to the water. She quickly stripped down, dunking her clothes into the water and cleaning them off before laying them out on a couple of rocks. She had no problem with nudity, it was a necessity to life.

The rocks she lay them on were a few meters away from the water, and she quickly dipped into the water to scrub off every little scab, dirt patch, and tangle, on her body. She ran her thin fingers through her hair for a long time, quickly getting out knots and leaves that stuck into her straight blonde hair.

... but when she surfaced completely...

her clothes...

were gone.


End file.
